Honey and Sulphur
by SinisterConcussion
Summary: KenpachixOCxTousen Tousen comes later. Ayako never really understood the difference between children and grown women. Unfortunately, she had to learn the hard way. She should've never left the house that day... Rated M for later chapters


Okay! So here's a new story for all of you peeps out there! Yes, it's another Kenpachi story; I just couldn't resist...I also have stories in the making for Renji, Ikkaku, Ukitake, and Kira, if anyone wanted to know. I'm trying to get them all out as quickly as I can because I'm leaving for boot camp in late July. Yes, you heard right, I'm joining the military! So you hear anything from me for at least the 2 months of boot camp and then maybe the first few months of my A school only because it'll be so new and busy for me, but once I get in the swing of things, I'll be right back on here again. But until then, I'll be pumping out as much as I can!

* * *

There are many differences between a woman and a child. There are the obvious biological differences—prepubescence, adolescence, etc etc. But typically, one must go through a series of changes, more complex than hormones and scheduled bleeding. With growth comes maturity, and with maturity comes wisdom. A child can sit there and dream all she wants. They live by pretending.

"Look at me, I'm a fairy, I'm a dragon, I'm a fish. Now I'm the Queen of England." They don't care, as long as they get their share of honey. But a woman soon learns the difference between a fairy tale and reality--that fish are eventually caught and eaten, and queens are just as mortal. A woman knows when hope is necessary and when her luck has run out. They can always tell when the honey begins to turn sour a reek, and slowly turn to sulfur. They just have a sense of knowing…

Not so much as "Today, this will happen, and it will be the worst day of my life," but more like "There's something about today that just seems off." Besides, can one really feel a foreboding so intense as to match an unexpected tragedy waiting just around the corner?

Ayako might've. Of course there was much to fret over, where she lived.

There was this village, you see, nicely sized, compared to others in the 76th District. Once a lawless settlement, it grew into a decent town-like place over the decades, much thanks to the efforts of a man, Maseba Daichi. He was a brilliant man, and very strong and wise, and the people revered him greatly. But try as he might, one man, and a defenseless village, could really do nothing to stay the destructive hand that was the ruffian scum of the lower numbered Districts.

Ayako sighed as she walked down the main dirt road, surveying the old tattered houses, the broken down carts, and the half shattered windows of the village outskirts. Some stood outside chatting with their neighbors, or sweeping, or selling goods, all in their tattered, dirty clothes. It was a bleak scene to say the least. It always looked a little worse after every raid, unlike the heart of the village, where the ruffians rarely ever got to before taking whatever it was that they wanted, usually women or money, and left. Heads turned up to look at her as she passed and greeted her happily; she nodded back at them all with a forced smile. Ayako had made it her life's goal to leave this place, to travel, to find somewhere better than this. She dreamed of a place like the Seireitei, or even one of the first few Districts and living in peace for the rest of her life, doing what she wanted, when she wanted without fear. But, of course, they were just dreams. She loved her grandparents, the ones who raised her, very dearly, but she just couldn't bear to live in a place of constant worry and chaos, where everyone boarded up their doors and windows at the sight of an unfamiliar face, or sometimes, all-too-familiar ones.

On that thought, Ayako heard a man's frantic yell in the distance. By that time, she had wandered to the edge of town, where from the surrounding woods stumbled a terrified local. Ayako knew him well enough. His name was Shino, and he was a carpenter of sorts, being called in by her grandfather on occasion to fix something she had broken. She wasn't the most graceful person. Shino was running at full speed, sputtering and stuttering words so jumbled that she couldn't make out any of it. He ran straight up to her and grabbed her shoulders tightly.

"Aya-chan! You shouldn't be this close to the outskirts. Run back home, quickly! Run and hide!" he said in a hurry and took off down the road, screaming warnings as he went.

Ayako turned back to the woods, confused at the man's actions, and squinted. "It's beginning to get dark, but that's no reason for me to run back home. I think I'm old enough to--"

There was rising dust in the distance, like there was a stampede heading right for her. There were shouts, some coming from the distance, more alert ones from behind.

And then she saw it. A group of men, at least a dozen, were closing in on the outskirts. Bandits, by the look of it, all atop horses, cattle, and the like; the one in the very front atop a big black bull.

"Oh my—" she spun around so fast, she gave herself whiplash, sprinting towards the nearest house. The door was already closed. "Hello!" she banged as hard as she could. It didn't even budge, it was so heavily barricaded. She glanced over her shoulder. Their shouts were getting louder. They were so close, she could make out the colors of their tattered clothes.

She ran across the street to the next house. "Please! Let me in!" she pleaded, but to no avail. Through the broken window, she could see them cowering in the back corner.

"Climb in through the window!" one woman shouted.

Ayako looked down. She was wearing a long, motion-constricting yukata and sandals. There was no way she'd be able to. She peered over her shoulder again at the group drawing ever near. She could see their faces, contorted in screams and mad laughter. She huffed and frantically scuttled down the street to the next house.

"Someone hurry!" she shouted. She received no response at all. They were in the village now. She could tell without turning around how close they were. Ayako ducked into an alley between two houses. Many of them passed right by her, heading further towards the middle of the village. She slipped further into the darkness and leaned against the wall of a shabby house, sliding to the ground, panting. The cries and bangs could barely be heard over the drumming of her pounding heart, echoing in her ears and limbs. She ran the back of her hand across her forehead. Somewhere, a baby was wailing at the top of its lungs. She kicked an overturned cart in frustration. Why didn't anyone ever _do_ anything?

"Hey!" she heard one of them say. "Did you just hear that?"

"Yeah, it came from back there!" another answered him.

'_Shit'_ she thought as the footsteps came closer. She ducked behind the cart, a little too late.

"There! I just saw somethin' move!" Ayako heard the metallic sound of a sword being unsheathed. Her eyes grew wide.

"Gotcha!" she felt a big calloused hand grip her shoulder. She gasped and spun around. How the hell did he get there so fast? "Hehe, I got 'er, Shin! She's a pretty one, eh?" he chuckled. He was tall and skinny with long greasy hair. Ayako couldn't help but shudder.

The other, Shin, was short and stout with a wide, fat nose. He snorted like a pig when he laughed. "What'll we do with 'er?" his voice was deep and menacing.

"Get up!" the thin one said, yanking her up by her arm. She tucked her legs under her so that she landed on her knees. He growled at her. "Ya wanna be stubborn, eh?" he picked up his sword and held it against her cheek. "Whaddya say we cut up that pretty face o' yers?" She gulped and pursed her lips. This was definitely not how she guessed her day would end.

There was a loud bang and the small shack-like house next to them fell with a crash. A cloud of dust enveloped the three of them. "Shit!" the fat one shouted. The thin one let go of her arm to cover his mouth and nose.

In a flash, she pushed him away from her and took off as fast as her legs could take her.

"Hey! Stop!" he called after her. Of course, she would have to have been a complete idiot to comply. She ran into the woods to hide. There was no way she'd find a place in town. "Damn it, woman!"

Ayako kicked off her sandals and held them in her hands as she ran, though it did little help due to her yukata. They caught up with her easily—well, the thin one did, the stout one a bit further behind. She spun around and threw her sandal as hard as she could before tearing off deeper into the woods. The thin one dodged it narrowly, the stout one wasn't so lucky.

"Damn it, Shin!" the thin one cursed his partner, who found himself so unceremoniously sprawled out on his back, an ever forming knot on his forehead. With a huff, he sped up and grabbed a hold of the collar of her yukata, throwing her roughly to the ground.

She yelped in surprise as she felt her back collide with the cold, hard ground. He was standing over her now, grinning, and one hand on her collar, the other holding his sword on his shoulder. His fat friend was quick to catch up…sort of.

"Fuck," Shin grimaced, clutching his head. "Ya've caused us more trouble 'n yer worth, girl," he spat.

"Calm down; she'll get what's comin' to 'er," the thin one raised his eyebrows suggestively at his friend. The fat one's scowl slowly turned into a sick smile that made Ayako's heart accelerate and her face turn pale. He took a step forward. The thin one held his sword out to block his path. "Hold on. I'm the one that caught 'er. I go first. Ya can have what's left," he ordered and grinned at her. Shin scowled. The thin one gripped her sash and ripped it off of her.

Ayako clutched at the fabric around her and screamed.

* * *

A sudden ear-splitting scream, pierced the air and rang throughout the woods. Birds took off into the sky, startled.

"Ken-chan," the little girl said from her perch that was the shoulder of her gargantuan companion. He slowed to a stop and turned in the direction of the raucous. "It sounds like somebody's in trouble," she said.

He grunted and continued walking.

"But Ken-chan!"

"I ain't worried about shit like that, Yachiru. We gotta find a village or somethin'. I'm tired o' eatin' forest meat," he grumbled.

Yachiru huffed. "I know! But if there's a woman in trouble nearby, then there might be a fight!" she explained excitedly. "And you've been in a bad mood lately! This'll cheer you up, Ken-chan! It will, it will!"

He stopped in his tracks once more. "A fight, ya say?" He pondered what his little partner had said, looking down at the jagged ancient-looking sword he was dragging haphazardly at his side. It'd been two or three days since he had last used it on anything other than animals. Too long, he'd say. A grin appeared on his scarred face as he turned in the direction that yet another cry for help had sounded from. "Well, that changes everything," he said.

"Yay!" Yachiru cheered.

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Woot, new story! Please message and tell me how you like it. More new stories yet to come, and an update for Despite All My Rage soon, too.


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